Mitch Kapor

Recent Stories

After waging a six-year legal battle over the right to build a mansion and 10-car garage in the Berkeley hills, Lotus Development Corp. founder Mitch Kapor and his wife Freada Kapor-Klein have put their property on the market.

Update, Sept. 24, 2015: After the Supreme Court’s May ruling, detailed below, the state’s Court of Appeal (First Appellate District) reviewed the issue of CEQA exemption once more, having been remanded to do so by the Supreme Court. On Sept. 23, the Court of Appeal issued its conclusion “that sufficient evidence supports the City’s conclusion the project is categorically exempt from further CEQA review.” The court also denied the latest appeal by the Berkeley Hillside Preservation group. “We therefore affirm the trial court’s order denying appellants’ petition for a writ of mandate,” it wrote. Read the full decision.

Update, 3.19.15: The Berkeley Hillside Preservation Group is asking the Supreme Court for a rehearing of its case. It filed its petition on March 18. The Supreme Court recently appointed two new justices, following two retirements, and the group is hoping a reconsideration of their arguments might bring a different result. The vote was 5-2 for the defendant at the first hearing. A decision on whether the court will grant or deny a rehearing will be known by May 29. Read the Petition for Rehearing.

Plans by Lotus founder and philanthropist Mitch Kapor to build a new home in Berkeley, which have been more than two years in the making, have been put on hold following a court ruling in favor of a citizen group challenging the construction.

Update, 01.31.12: Both parties in the 2707 Rose Street case, which went to appeal and was heard in the First Appellate District, Division 4, California Court of Appeal in San Francisco on January 24th, are now waiting to hear the outcome. In the meantime Berkeley Hills Preservation group alerts us to its website which contains full details of its case.

Fifteen months after Mitch Kapor received permission from the city of Berkeley to build a home at 2707 Rose Street, the Lotus founder and philanthropist has begun to dismantle the abandoned 2-story, 2,477 sq ft 1925 house on the property, in readiness, one assumes, for construction to begin on his new abode.

A group of north Berkeley residents who are contesting the construction of a new home by Lotus founder and philanthropist Mitch Kapor on his property at 2707 Rose Street say they may move for a new trial after a judge ruled against them in December.

A long-awaited hearing was held on Wednesday morning at Alameda County Superior Court in a case that sees the city of Berkeley pitched against a group of Berkeley residents over a well-known software mogul and philanthropist’s attempt to build a new, contemporary-style home at 2707 Rose Street.

Mitch Kapor, the philanthropist and founder of Lotus, has not allowed the difficulties he is facing building a home in Berkeley to deter him from channeling his money into good causes based in our city.

A group of Berkeley residents has filed suit against the City of Berkeley for failing to act with due process when it approved the application, by Lotus founder and philanthropist Mitch Kapor, to build a new home at 2707 Rose Street.